POV: Statera Luotian
"Begin," I ordered, reaching out with my hands and 'grasping' the Life-Giving Trees, dragging them into position. It was taking quite a bit of energy on my part, but it was something that was necessary. The Trees, Mountains, and Valley's had all been floating around freely before this, so now I and a few other deities were going to remanouver them into key positions and then anchor them. This would allow the natural energy of the Four Realms to flow better, as well as acting as support pillars, strengthening the Four Realms as a whole.
It was a long, taxing process that would take many tens of thousands - if not hundreds of thousands - of years, hence we were getting started on it now. Just because I was an Origin Deity didn't mean things had to happen quickly, or would happen with the snap of my fingers. All good things come in time.
Suddenly, I blinked and looked at one of the Regions, smiling slightly. "Looks like little Sequoia managed to get out of her solar system." I noted. The dryad had figured out the key to leaving both her meadow and her planet in the past hundred thousand years by dragging her tree into her 'core,' or dantian as many called it. Or was it a jindan? There were so many names for these things, so I'll go with cultivation core. Anyway, she figured out how to do that and boosted her cultivation level up high enough so that she could leave her planet, but it hadn't been enough to get out of her solar system until now.
For some reason, she had completely bypassed the Immortal Trial. Well, I say for some reason, but the Will of the Four Realms gave her an express ticket to immortality. It was entirely irrelevant because of how time fluctuated around her and prevented her from really aging, but it still wasn't ok. Going through the Trial would have tempered her. Thus, I harshly reprimanded the Four Realms for its actions. Now the others like her won't have the same ease, but...the Will is just a sentience barely capable of instinctual actions, so it will make the Trail easier. Regardless of what I have to say about it.
"Grandpa, pay attention!" Kei reprimanded from next to me.
"I am. I am paying attention to everything all at the same time." I informed her casually, glancing at her out of the corner of my eyes. She wasn't that far away from me, her hands stretched out towards the Region I was controlling and fuelling the process with a good portion of her energy. It did speed things up.
"Technicalities," Kei said, rolling her eyes, and I chuckled.
"On another note, Sequoia just took the next step in her hunt to touch your tails," I told her. Kei's eyes lit up like the stars, a wide grin splitting her face at the mention of her playmate. She did enjoy teasing her so, and their games of chase had gradually increased in scale as Sequoia's range of movement expanded.
"FOCUS!" Leo roared at me from above, the light of the Sun radiating down and nourishing the Tree, as well as mixing with the light of the Moon to heal any stress the abnormal movement of the Regions caused.
"Oh, hush, you," I chided, manifesting two more arms of Primordial Chaos that reached up - stretching hundreds of thousands of miles - to pat Leo on his fiery hair. This just served to piss him off more.
"If you have time to do that, then you can work on MAKING THIS THING MOVE FASTER!" He bellowed, his hair flaring up in an attempt to get rid of my hand. He had no such luck.
"No, not really. This is as fast as it can go I'm afraid. Otherwise we'd start tearing holes in the Four Realms, and that would cause problems." I retorted simply, shrugging my shoulders.
"The way you're talking is as if this is easy for you," Celene noted, sweat pouring down her face as she struggled to maintain her current level of power. The surrounding Deities - six in total - all grunted in agreement, not actually being able to speak as they focused entirely on moving the Valley and Mountain alongside the Tree.
"Um, kind of," I admitted, portioning off a bit of my power to ease the stress on my other children, fueling the movement of the Mountain and Valley. "If it really bugs you, then I could split off a bit of my power to go gallavanting off in the Mortal Realms. There's nothing overly pressing that needs my attention, so really I'm just releasing tension right now."
"This isn't pressing?!" Leo questioned.
I considered that. "Besides this,"
"Gods above," he cursed, "just go fricking play in the Mortal Realm. As long as you shut up, I'll be much happier."
"That'd be me," I responded to his curse. He groaned, and I laughed evilly. "Alright, I'll do as you wish, but...just know that if you lay yourself open to teasing, I will be leaving just enough consciousness behind so I can retort." I warned, and promptly sent dozens of incarnations off into the Mortal and Heaven Realms.
"Sometimes I wonder if He's really the creator of the entire universe...such a child," Leo groaned as I left. I decided that didn't deserve a retort, and allowed my consciousness to fade a bit. Best not to push it.
POV CHANGE: Tian
Watching the Dao Progenitors - bar the Celestial Empress, who had other things to attend to - convene was a bit like stepping back in time. Their number now reached seven (eight with the Empress), with the vast majority belonging to the Gallos Empire and Celestial Palace. In fact, they all did. Five were originally members of the Celestial Palace, and two had risen from the Empire, all of them following my Martial Way. Two followed the path of the Sword, one of the Bow, one as a master of the Fist, two more followed me even closer by weilding spears, and the newest of the bunch had become a Progenitor by brandishing her Mace.
It was kind of funny, how they all focused on specific weapons, whereas I focused on a much broader spectrum.
"The deities are staying out of this war, and so should we," the member of the Xi clan, Leo and Celene's decendants, said softly. He was one of the sword-weilders, focusing more on finesse and skill than the other Sword Progenitor's overbearing, broad and simple swordplay. "This is an issue amongst mortals."
"Oh do shut up, you stupid Xi. We are not gods, we are Dao Progenitors. On top of that, we are all warriors. How are we expected to not participate? If those foolish Elementals attack us, they will be crushed." The mace wielder scoffed. It was the truth, the Elementals would be absolutely demolished, after a brief resistance, by either the Empire or the Palace. This was the biggest reason they hadn't made a move yet, instead opting to maintain the tenuous relationship with the two superpowers they currently had.
No one was willing to make the first move, but likewise, neither was anyone delusional enough to think that a war wasn't coming. Why the former was true, I personally didn't know. By this point I would've probably gone an knocked some sense into the elementals, just because they pissed me off. But that's just me. And now I can't do that, because I'm a deity. Do I want to? Yes. But I won't.
"Feeling a bit nostalgic?" Inesa asked, sliding up next to me and rubbing my back. I hummed and nodded, wrapping one arm around her shoulders. The Dao Progenitors would eventually agree to not intervene unless things got too out of hand and drug them into the war, at which point they intervene personally, so I didn't really need to stay and watch.
"Yeah, a bit. Are you coming with me to go meet the Celestial Empress's brats? They should be old enough to talk to, now." I asked. Inesa nodded, pressing up closer to me and resting her head on my shoulder.
"Yes," she said simply, smiling. "though remember, you have a 'brat' of your own."
I scoffed. "Sequoia was never a brat, and I never saw her in her bratty stage, which was when she was just born. So ha, I never had a brat."
"Parental bias," Inesa told me with a smug look on her face.
"This bias is justified," I returned, tapping her forehead with my finger and teleporting to stand above Manu Ti, where the Celestial Palace floated. Inside, the Celestial Empress was chasing her two children around her bedroom, both of them laughing with childish glee as she threatened them with the vicious 'tickle monster.' It was good to see her cutting loose for once and reveal that playful, childish side of hers I always knew she had.
She still had a long way to go, but she was getting there. These two children were the first step - no, one. One child. The other was...huh, strange. I couldn't see the other's, the female's, future. The boy was clearly recognizable, I knew what his future held without even looking. But the girl...? Not so much.
"Having fun, little miss empress?" I questioned, stepping through the wall (yes, the wall, doors are for normal people) and flashing her a grin. The Empress nearly tripped over herself, her two three-year-old children running and hiding behind her bed before peeking around the corner, grinning like the little lunatics all children were.
"T-Tian...?" She asked, turning around and looking at me, her face lighting up upon seeing me. Inesa unwound herself from my arms, stepping to the side and nodding to her.
"It's good to see you again," she greeted, which the Empress returned, her attention still on me.
"Wh-what are you doing here? I thought you..." she trailed off, glancing at her children. My grin widened and I winked at her.
"Well, I had to come and see you after you had kids, after all!" I exclaimed. "I was wondering when you'd find yourself a good husband and have some kids, but I see you went for the latter first!" I teased. The Empress flushed and beckoned for her kids to come forwards. The toddlers obeyed, sneaking around the corner of their bed and staring at me curiously.
The boy was a cute little thing with chubby cheeks and light blue hair, just like his father. Small wings fluttered on his back and two little horns poked out of his forehead, marking his half-Fae half-Avian heritage, and he stared at me with deep blue eyes. A small little feathered tail flicked nervously behind him, occasionally wrapping around his mother's leg.
The girl was fearless. She was staring at me challengingly, dark red eyes narrowed and black hair tied up in a bun around her small, intricate horns. In opposition to her brother she had four wings and no tail, the only real thing that marked them as twins were their similarly shaped faces and ears. Otherwise I doubt I'd put them as the same species, let along siblings. It was kind of strange. Everything about the girl was strange, but I didn't say anything about it.
"This is Primula," the Celestial Empress said, putting one hand on top of her little girl's head, "and this is Yamua. Say hello, children."
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"Hello," Yamua said, the young boy pressing his head into his mother's hand in comfort.
"Your horns are broken," Primula announced, pointing at me dramatically. "And your hair is grey. Are you really old?" Inesa coughed to hide her laughter, and the Celestial Empress looked at her kid, appalled.
I sighed and muttered, "Why do they all think that? I don't look that old, do I?" Louder, I answered her question. "Yes, I am very old. Much older than you," I said, reaching out and tapping her on the nose. She crinkled her nose cutely, frowning and glaring at me.
"No, I'm older! I'm a billion kajillion...no, infinity years old! So ha! I'm the best!" Primula objected, bounding forward and tapping me on my nose. I blinked at her, and poked her belly, making her giggle and flee back to hide behind her mother, peeking out from behind her legs with a mischevious twinkle in her eye.
"Little firecracker, isn't she?" I asked, bemused.
"I don't know what I'm going to do with her," the Empress replied, exasperated but looking at her child fondly.
"Love me, feed me, never leave me," Primula chirped, clutching the Empress's clothes and using them to crawl her way up her mother. Yamua, not to be outdone, did the same. For children that young they were suprisingly strong, to be able to climb all the way up to the Empress's shoulders. But that's what you get when you have cultivator children, they're always a little weird. Makes me wonder what the children of Deities will be like.
"Well, I just wanted to drop by. I've got to go check up on a few other things," starting with Sequoia and the other three...Evolutionary Beings? Don't remember what Statera called them, but that's one of the jobs He gave me, "so sorry I can't stay for longer. But hey, you're doing good. You're on the right track." I told her. She smiled and nodded, watching as Inesa and I teleported away, off to do our stuff.
I wanted to start with the Djinn. His development was interesting, because he kept travelling back and forth between the Mortal and Spirit Realms, as was a feature of his race. Though they tended to stay in the Spirit Realm for the most part. A few mortal civilizations already had stories and such of the Djinns and their potential. I was...expectant that this race would be most interesting. And gods, I sounded like Keilan when I thought about that.
"I need a vacation. And to get into a fight," I muttered to myself. Inesa laughed lightly and squeezed my shoulder, shaking her head.
"What you need is to stop thinking so much. Come on," she said lightly, grabbing my hand. I chuckled and let her lead me. Well, this is fine too.
POV CHANGE: The First (Male; Ichiro)
I hummed as I skipped through the city, revelling in my young, ten-year-old body. It was filled with boundless energy, and damn was it cool. One of the cooler races I'd been in lifetimes, but that was mostly because I set the race to random. One time I got turned into a...well, that's not important. It was weird. Really, really weird...
Anyway, the last thing I expected from this life was for one of my bodies to end up the child of another Monkey Wrench, of the Mad Scientist no less! That had been an absolute shock, I mean, I was expecting me to be the First (ha!) one here. It actually did help, however. The other me is the child of the leader of the oldest, most powerful, and most influential nation in the Realm. Which means I can't really run about wherever I want because I have to stay in character and all that, but I do get an absolute buttload of information about how this Realm works, at least.
Mother - the Celestial Empress, I mean - tells me that there's more stuff I can learn when I'm older and cultivate more. Of course I will do that, it's only fair to play by the rules. I learned long ago that opening your presents beforehand ruins the surprise.
On the other hand, in this body, the Mad Scientist has given me all but free reign. Dad, her husband, wasn't very appreciative of it, but together we ended up convincing him so long as I visited once a week. Considering how easy it was for me to travel between solar systems, even as a child, it wasn't a problem. As bad as it is for me to say that, I was never really theirs to begin with, which is why I make sure to always be born with a twin or into a family with more than one child. That way its fairer to my 'parents.' I can play the 'good child,' but it always makes me feel bad if I'm the only child. You'd think I'd be over it, but nah.
I've had too many kids to not understand what it's like to have a child not be yours. If that makes sense...? Makes sense to me.
So, anyway, I was skipping along down the street on a planet three solar systems away from the Mad Scientist, looking at all the different people of the Karae-dominated city and essentially soaking in the sights. This part of the Empire of Gallos was a bit more strict and logically-dominated than other parts, which was ok, but logic wasn't always fun. They did have some interesting gadgets and technological developments, however. It's always nice to see a budding civilization, just figuring out how to combine technology and magic - er, cultivation, in this universe.
A few people glanced at me as I skipped by, but generally the crowds ignored my presence. I was just a kid, after all.
For a while I moved around, until I found myself standing outside of a cafe. It wasn't the most interesting cafe, just someplace that sold tea, cookies, coffee, and various pastries, but there was this one lady in there that...struck me.
She wasn't the most beautiful of beings, I had seen women who were so transcendantly beautiful that men waged war with each other simply because the women had winked. No, she didn't hold a candle to those women. Her raven hair had a few streaks of white in it, despite her youthful appearance, and her horns, for she was a Fae, curled elegantly around the sides of her head. They were neither large nor small. Everything about her was in the very center of the line between average and beautiful.
She wore simple clothes, a t-shirt and jeans, and was sitting at a table reading a book, laughing to herself lightly as her eyes skimmed the words. It was her eyes that truly caught my attention. There was no way to really explain them - they were a gorgeous shade of forest green that I only caught a glimpse of. That was enough, however, to make me go inside the cafe and sit across from her.
She glanced at me as I sat down, the brief look only confirming my suspicion that her eyes were wonderous, did a double take, and then set her book down. "Um...can I help you?" She asked quizzically, furrowing her brows as she looked at me. I smiled, staring straight into her eyes. They were...so deep.
"You have gorgeous eyes," I said with a smile. She froze, and cocked her head to the side in confusion.
"Huh?" She asked.
"Your eyes are beautiful. They're more beautiful than a thousand sunsets," I told her, winking. The action made her squint and scrunch up her nose, totally confused. It was a funny expression. And not once did the deepness in her eyes fade away...in fact, I was beginning to get lost in them. It wasn't very profoundly lost, I could still 'find my way,' so to speak, but still lost enough to convince me that this lady was some kind of cultivator. Normal people don't have eyes that are like this.
"Are you...flirting with me?" She asked incredulously.
"Depends. Is it working?" I chirped, flashing her my award-winning smile. Seriously. I've won awards with it, it's so awesome. Took me lifetimes to perfect. And even though my body is childish, I designed it so I would still look good at this age. Besides, one commonality among all cultivators is that age doesn't really matter once they reach the "immortal" stage. They could be millions of years apart in terms of age, and no one would give a shit. So all I have to do is grow a little.
"...not in the slightest," she deadpanned, grabbing the teacup on the table and downing it all in one go. I bet she'd be fun to go drinking with. After a moment's pause in which I waited for her to continue, she suddenly smirked, as if a funny thought just occured to her. Then she continued. "You're, what, ten? What are you doing out here all on your lonesome?"
"I'm actually eleventy kajillion years old, trapped in a ten-year-old body. What level's your cultivation?" I inquired. She blinked. "Oh, come on, you don't think I didn't notice? Your positively enchanting eyes, and I'm serious about that by the way, they are lovely, gives it away. But you've also erected a perception filter to keep people from noticing us, or, more specifically, you, correctly guessed my age, and set up a minor intent reflecting ward around the cafe. Since I arrived, you've set up a lie detection field " I listed.
"Very good," she said, nodding, "but you missed the spacial manipulation." And then she took a sip of her tea again, which was steaming and full once more. I frowned. I...actually had missed that. Granted, I wasn't trying very hard, but it did slip past my initial detectors. I scoffed.
"I was hardly trying,"
"Arrogant much?" She shot back without missing a beat.
"Actually I'm quite humble," I retorted, and she laughed. My heart skipped a beat at the sound that sent waves of warmth and peace crashing into my soul, her laugh sounding like a thousand bells gently tinkling in the breeze. Then another realization struck me; she hadn't set up any fields or wards. It was her natural aura that caused a perception filter and intent ward among other things.
Suddenly, I was intrigued. Unlike a deity, of which I had met many and sometimes even become one, I could not look at someone and divine their past (for now, at least. There were restrictions to my power to match my body.) So I wanted to know what this woman was. Who she was. A cultivator of some kind? A divine beast? She didn't feel like a deity, even their incarnations gave off waves of easily detectable power, so what was she?
"Come back to the land of the living," she said suddenly, flicking my forehead and banishing all thoughts from my head. I blinked and smacked my forehead with my palm, astonished. Had she just...with a flick of her finger...my thoughts...? "You drifted," she informed me, leaning back and sipping on her tea once more.
"I see," I said, narrowing my eyes. She was much stronger than my initial estimates to be able to do that. My mind was a steel trap. It would take much more than a casual flick of a finger to do anything to my mind, but I suppose it does help that she had no ill intentions when she did. "I was just lost in your radiance, I'm afraid. Such beauty does not belong on a mortal world such as this." She spluttered at that, almost spraying tea out of her mouth in a choking laugh.
I suppose that comment would be funny, coming out of the mouth of a ten-year-old. The question is, should I start laying it on really thick? I could go for more flirting and teasing, but I wasn't expecting her to really react to it. It would be...disappointing if she was weak to flirting. Would make things far too easy.
"Well, as pleasant as this chat was, brat, I have other things I need to do." she said, standing up and draining her tea once again. She downs that stuff like its shots at a party.
"Are you just going to leave an innocent child alone in the city?" I questioned, giving her my best kicked-puppy look.
She wasn't even phased. "Yeah, I am, because you are more than meets the eye."
"Alright, then I'll just tag along. Got nothing better to do, and you're rather interesting." I responded, standing up.
"Uh...no, you won't. More like can't," she said slowly, as if speaking to a child. I inwardly chuckled, feeling quite smug. She probably was going to teleport to some distant planetoid or something, or go flying up into space. It was simple enough for me to follow and track, either by erecting a similar teleportation spell that hijacked the trail she used, or stealing a spaceship to follow her. Or, hell, building my own spaceship. There were many ways to follow her.
"Why not?" I asked instead, keeping my tone childish.
"Because I was never here to begin with," and then she fucking vanished.
I blinked. And stared at the spot she had been in confusion. Then furrowed my brows and scratched the back of my head. Oh. Oh. She's good. I hadn't even noticed. A wide, predatory grin stretched across my face at this, vowing to myself that I would find her, whoever she was. This was fun. I hadn't been bested like this in ages...and the suddenness of it all! This situation was just delectable.
"Game on!" I shouted to the skies, pumping my fists into the air and utterly ignoring the odd looks I got from the cafe patrons and employees. The moment was ruined, however, by that asshole with the purple boxes. I could practically hear their cackling laughter.
Gorgeous. Beautiful. Enchanting. Lovely. Radiant. You're quite the sap, you know that? Should I arrange a meet-up? Maybe create an atmosphere, have candles and rose petals? Or would you rather a wild-goose chase through the Four Realms?
Shut up, you. I'll do what I want. I bet you're butt ugly, and have eyes that aren't even close to as pretty as hers.
Aww. Sounds like someone's in love. You don't even know her name. How old is she? And how old are you? There's got to be a law about this or something. It's like a creepy old man flirting with an innocent maiden. (I'm talking about the age of your soul, by the way, not physical age. Felt the need to clarify that.)
Ok, new goal. Find the lady, then proceed to find and punch Purple Boxes-san in their stupid face. I don't care if they don't even have a physical body, there will be punching involved. I will make them a body if I have to.
Tian will like you. A lot.
I sighed and deflated a bit. This conversation wasn't going to end well for me, I could just tell. Oh well, at least I had a direction now. See the Realms as I search for her.